Rather than doing a traditional interview-filled blog tour, Denise Jaden is celebrating the release of her new nonfiction writing book, FAST FICTION, by dropping tips about writing quickly at every stop of her blog tour, and offering some awesome prizes for commenting on any of these posts (including this one!)
The more you drop by and comment, the more chances you have to win these great prizes.
Denise’s Fast Fiction Tip: Don’t Beat Yourself Up!
As writers, I think you’ll agree this phrase almost sounds like an oxymoron. Beating ourselves up is often what we’re best at! And that, faster than anything, will stilt our creativity. Either we don’t feel like we write well enough, or fast enough, or consistent enough, or commercial enough.
In order to stop this, first try to think of which phrase you beat yourself up with most often. If it’s that you don’t write well enough (or perhaps a more negative phrasing of that sentiment), try to find something that will help you remember the opposite about yourself. There must have been a time in your life that you did think you wrote well enough, otherwise you would not be a writer. Was that from a certain piece of writing that you crafted a few years ago? If so, print a piece of that writing out and place it somewhere prominent in your writing area. Or was it from compliments you received on your writing via email? If that’s the case, keep all of these “happy” emails somewhere in one place where you can find them easily when you need them most.
Battle all of your negative voices, and you’ll be sailing through your next draft!
The Prizes:
- Compliments of New World Library: They will be giving away A BOX of copies of FAST FICTION by Denise Jaden and GET IT DONE by Sam Bennett (US and Canada only):
- Compliments of Denise Jaden, TWO BOXES of great fiction (US Only). Details on Denise’s blog.
- Audiobook copies of NEVER ENOUGH by Denise Jaden!
- A critique of your first five pages, compliments of Denise’s agent, Michelle Humphrey from The Martha Kaplan Agency!
All you have to do is comment and then enter the rafflecopter for a chance to win (at the bottom of this post, I’ve included links to all of the other blogs where you can comment for more chances to win).
About Fast Fiction:
Writers flock to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) each November because it provides a procrastination-busting deadline. But only a fraction of the participants meet their goal. Denise Jaden was part of that fraction, writing first drafts of her two published young adult novels during NaNoWriMo. In Fast Fiction, she shows other writers how to do what she did, step-by-step, writer to writer. Her process starts with a prep period for thinking through plot, theme, characters, and setting. Then Jaden provides day-by-day coaching for the thirty-day drafting period. Finally, her revision tips help writers turn merely workable drafts into compelling and publishable novels.
A portion of publisher proceeds will be donated to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
Praise for Fast Fiction:
“Fast Fiction is filled with stellar advice, solid-gold tips, and doable, practical exercises for all writers who want to draft a complete novel.”
— Melissa Walker, author of Violet on the Runway
“Being a ‘pantser’ I have always resisted outlining, but I have to say that Fast Fiction changed my mind! Denise Jaden takes what I find to be a scary process (outlining) and makes it into an easy and, dare I say, enjoyable one. Fast Fiction is a hands-on book that asks the right questions to get your mind and your story flowing. I know I’ll be using Fast Fiction over and over again. Highly recommended for fiction writers!
— Janet Gurtler, author of RITA Award finalist I’m Not Her
“Fast Fiction is full of strategies and insights that will inspire and motivate writers of every experience level — and best of all, it provides them with a solid plan to quickly complete the first draft of their next novel.”
— Mindi Scott, author of Freefall
“Fast Fiction provides writers with the perfect mix of practical guidance and the kick in the pants they need to finish that draft. This book is a must-have for writers of all levels.”
— Eileen Cook, author of The Almost Truth
“Practical and down-to-earth, Denise Jaden’s Fast Fiction makes a one-month draft seem doable, even for beginners, any month of the year.”
— Jennifer Echols, author of Endless Summer and Playing Dirty
“One of the greatest challenges any writer faces is getting a great idea out of one’s brain and onto the page. Fast Fiction breaks that process down into concrete, manageable steps, each accompanied by Denise Jaden’s sage advice and enthusiastic encouragement. And anything that helps streamline the drafting process is a-okay by me! Fast Fiction is a great addition to any writer’s toolbox — I’ve got it in mine!”
— Catherine Knutsson, author of Shadows Cast by Stars
“Forget the fact that this resource is directed at those wanting to complete a fast draft — if you’re out to get your novel done, period, Jaden’s Fast Fiction will be the kick in the butt that gets you there, from story plan to ‘The End’. . . and beyond.”
— Judith Graves, author of the Skinned series for young adults
Where you can find Fast Fiction:
Blog Tour Stops:
To be entered to win prizes galore, comment on any of the following blog posts celebrating Fast Fiction’s release! Then to get credit for each comment, click the Rafflecopter link and follow instructions.
(All Fast Fiction blog posts should be live by March 9th, or sooner. Contest will be open until March 15th. If any links don’t work, stop by http://denisejaden.blogspot.com for updated links.)
GCC Blogs:
http://amandaashby.com/news/
http://www.jessicabrody.com/blog
http://www.eileencook.com/
http://luciennediver.wordpress.com/
http://lindagerber.blogspot.com/
http://www.sarahantz.com/blog/
http://denisejaden.blogspot.com
http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com
http://jessikirby.blogspot.com/
http://stephaniekuehnert.blogspot.com
http://myramcentire.com/
http://gretchenmcneil.blogspot.com/
http://www.jennyoconnell.com/blog.html
http://www.kellyparra.com/blog/
http://debbierigaud.com/debbie-rigaud-blog/
http://www.mybignose.blogspot.com/
http://we-have-words.com/
http://jerismithready.tumblr.com/
http://www.kristinaspringer.com
http://www.livejournal.com/users/lstolarz/
http://www.melissacwalker.com/blog/
http://dianarwallach.tumblr.com
Additional Participating Blogs:
http://ellestraussbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.judithgraves.com
http://lstaylor.blogspot.com
http://www.sharigreen.com
http://www.shana-silver.com
http://www.tonettedelaluna.com
https://careann.wordpress.com
http://www.yascribe.blogspot.com
Remember, all you have to do is leave comments to get lots of extra entries to win some great prizes. Don’t know what to comment about? Tell us the name of your favorite writing book!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here
MUSINGS 
Thanks so much for helping to spread the word about Fast Fiction, Carol!
You’re very welcome. It’s not hard to help promote something you believe in. 🙂
This sounds like a great resource for writers. The advice in this post was right on!
Thanks, Darlene. It’s focused on a very specific need and should help a lot of writers.
Another must-read. Thanks, Carol and Denise!
You’re welcome. (And I’m glad to have you back in Canada.)
I’m happy to be home, too. Oh, except for the cold. brrr.
Great tip! In this rejection-filled business, it’s so easy to get discouraged. Perseverance and a positive attitude is the key. Thanks for sharing this. I’m looking forward to reading Denise’s book.
Thanks for stopping by, Trudi. That positive attitude can sometimes be hard to maintain, but finding something good on which to focus our energy can help to keep it topped up.
I love all the tips I’ve read so far on this blog tour, but I especially love the idea of keeping a piece of writing you’ve done and that you love with you for inspiration and the reminder that you can do it.
Denise has a lot of great tips, doesn’t she? Anything that helps keep a writer’s morale up is an especially good thing. Between Internal Editors and rejections, it’s easy to get discouraged.